The Awesome Thing About Managing Millennials

I have to laugh sometimes when listening to fellow baby-boomers go on rants about Millennials. Yes, there may indeed be some truth to the accusations of entitlement and the everyone’s-a-victim mentality, but still the rants sound eerily familiar to the ones uttered by our parents forty years ago. We were a doomed generation. We were irresponsible, had no character and no work ethic. Yet somehow, we did okay.

Millennials Don’t Accept The Status Quo

I love working with Millennials. They are a generation that doesn’t accept the status quo (sound familiar boomers?). They believe things can and should be better. Having grown up with a tsunami of information at their fingertips they question everything. If you want their respect or their loyalty, you had better have substance and walk your talk.

The Attention Span Of Guppies, But Can Take Your Breath Away

Like that persistent four-year-old, millennials will keep asking “why.” And like the four-year-old, they won’t just settle for “because.” They keep us on our toes and force us to examine our own beliefs. They will get things done, but have the attention spans of guppies. If you don’t make the effort to engage them, they will drift away the moment a bright shiny object comes along. If you can inspire them, however, they are capable of a level of energy and focus that will take your breath away.

Millennials Will Make You Better

Successfully managing Millennials requires integrity, transparency, a focus on results and a clear purpose that transcends “because I said so.” Put simply, Millennials will force you to become a better leader, and a better person in all respects.

I think that’s pretty awesome.

Have fun!
Shaun

“If you’re not both teaching your employees and learning from them, you’re not doing it right”

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About The Author

Shaun Belding is a customer service expert, and author of five books on customer service, leadership and workplace success. As a keynote speaker (www.shaunbelding.com) on customer service, Shaun is known for his light-hearted, memorable style.
He leads The Belding Group of Companies, a global customer experience consultancy. Their training division, Belding Training, (www.beldingtraining.com) provides award-winning customer service training to companies around the world.

One Response

Hi Shaun & co. The opposite of a Know-it-all Customer is the terrestrial “clingon”. These customers assume their supplier is really fabulous and accommodating and thus use and abuse that supplier, asking them to absorb responsibility that should be the customers. These customers do not try learn the essentials that would allow them to take this thinking in-house, relying instead on the know-it-all supplier. Trouble is, when the pawpaw hits the fan, more sensibly minded management at the customer may have cause to question the reason for such loyalty to or for a supplier suppliers relationship.

A good supplier should always try to ensure their customers believe the supplier is great, while still educating the customers, ensuring that the relationship is not too cosy and that the client is not too beholden to the supplier or an individual within the supplier.